Airwaves Deal With Pentagon Called Near by Broadcasters

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. broadcasters said they’re near
an agreement to share frequencies with the Defense Department, a
move that could help free airwaves for use by mobile providers
led by Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc.

Broadcasters and the military “were able to arrive at a
framework,” Rick Kaplan, an executive vice president with the
National Association of Broadcasters, said in a news conference
today. The trade group is “very confident” details will be
resolved, he said.

The Pentagon will assign some of its functions to airwaves
now used by broadcast television for live coverage of sporting
events and emergencies, Kaplan said. The block cleared of
defense functions can be added to frequencies to be offered for
competitive auction by next year by the Federal Communications
Commission.

“This arrangement allows the FCC to hold a successful
auction while ensuring that local TV stations retain essential
emergency news gathering spectrum,” Gordon Smith, president of
the Washington-based broadcasters’ group, said in an e-mail.

The National Telecommunications and Information
Administration, which coordinates federal airwaves use, in a
letter today proposed altering frequency assignments to
accommodate the proposed changes. The letter to the FCC was
signed by Karl Nebbia, as associate administrator at NTIA, which
is a Commerce Department arm.

Spectrum Crunch

President Barack Obama has set a goal of almost doubling
the airwaves available for wireless devices such as smartphones
and tablet computers by making an additional 500 megahertz
available over 10 years.

The Obama administration is seeking to avert what officials
have called a “spectrum crunch” that would occur as wireless
networks’ capacity fails to meet growing demand from smartphones
and tablet computers such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad.

Wireless providers have pushed for access to the airwaves
the Pentagon will free up, in the swath designated 1755-to-1780
megahertz. The airwaves work well with those now used for
wireless devices, and other countries have designated that block
for commercial purposes, Christopher Guttman-McCabe, executive
vice president at CTIA-The Wireless Association, a mobile
providers’ trade group, told lawmakers at a June hearing.

Senator Jay Rockefeller, the West Virginia Democrat who is
chairman of the Commerce Committee, said the letter from NTIA
moves the U.S. “one step closer to maximizing auction
revenues.” Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said
the NTIA had produced a “roadmap” that “marks a critical
step” toward auctioning airwaves.

‘Important Step’

The NTIA letter drew praise from the trade group
representing U.S. mobile providers.

It is “an important step forward to ensuring the U.S.
wireless industry has access to additional licensed spectrum to
meet continued consumer demand,” Scott Bergmann, a vice
president at the Washington-based CTIA-The Wireless Association,
said in an e-mailed statement.

The Pentagon is pursuing “balanced approaches” to protect
military operations while making airwaves available for others,
said Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Damien Pickart, a Defense
Department spokesman.

Defense systems in the airwaves include satellite-launch
and orbit-control operations, electronic warfare and air-combat
training, Teresa Takai, the Defense Department’s chief
information officer, said at the June hearing in the U.S. House.

Replacement Airwaves

The military would need access to replacement airwaves,
funding and time to make the changes requested, Takai said.

In a July letter, Takai said some functions could remain in
the 1755-to-1780 swath on a shared basis with commercial users.
Precision-guided munitions, microwave links and surveillance
could move to new airwaves, Takai said.

The FCC has said it wants to auction the airwaves as early
as September 2014. Bidders could include largest U.S. wireless
provider Verizon, No. 2 AT&T, third-largest carrier Sprint Corp.
and fourth-largest T-Mobile US Inc.

The FCC also plans an airwaves sale to begin in January.
Dish Network Corp. has pledged to participate.

Federal agencies use much of the most valuable airwaves,
Representative Anna Eshoo, a California Democrat, said at the
June hearing.

“Federal agencies have a responsibility to ensure
efficient use and maximum benefit of this scarce resource just
as wireless companies do,” Eshoo said.